Conventional managed information environments, such as a Storage Area Network (SAN), typically employ an interconnection of storage arrays operable for storing large quantities of data, in which the storage arrays are responsive to a management application such as an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) based application. The SAN includes a plurality of host computers coupled to users for storage and retrieval of the data in the storage array devices. The SAN, therefore, supports an enterprise such as a corporation or business entity with conventional information storage and retrieval services via the SAN. The SAN management application allows administration activities, such as monitoring and maintenance of the storage arrays, for ensuring maximum throughput and efficiency of the data to and from users via the SAN.
In a conventional storage area network, periodic backups of data to a reliable long term storage medium remain a desirable, if not mandatory, aspect of SAN maintenance. Such backups allow retrieval and recreation of SAN entrusted data in the event of human error, such as accidental deletions, hardware failure, such as individual disk drive failure, and catastrophic events such as fire, natural disaster, or other site wide neutralizing scenario. Accordingly, regular backup operations and verification of adequate completion thereof are an integral component of SAN hygiene.
Frequently, conventional backup operations are provided by or facilitated by a vendor supplied backup application specific to each type and vendor of storage arrays. Often, however, a customer site maintains a heterogeneous combination of such storage arrays. Accordingly, SAN backup tends to evolve into a repertoire of backup applications, executed according to a predetermined schedule adapted for enabling subsequent recovery of the data stored thereby. Further, such backup operations typically alternate between incremental and full backups, as a means of optimizing backup duration, utilization of backup media volume, and performance intrusions, while nonetheless enabling timely retrieval when called for. Therefore, management of backup operations in a large, heterogeneous network of storage arrays is a formidable task.
A conventional SAN, therefore, employs a plurality of hosts, each connected to one or more storage arrays. The storage arrays each include a plurality of individual storage array devices, also known as storage units, disk drives or spindles, operating as an integrated storage medium. In a configured SAN, each of the storage arrays may have different numbers, types, and arrangements of the storage units, and are often from multiple vendors. Further, the storage within a storage array may be partitioned or designated according to data redundancy or protection schemes, such as shadowing, journaling, and RAID arrangements, and may also be partitioned for usage by certain subsets of users. Accordingly, tracking consumption of available storage and identifying areas of excessive or sparse consumption becomes a formidable task.